NAFDAC recorded no major conviction before 2009 –DG

The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhii, on Thursday said prior to his appointment in 2009, the agency did not secure any “major convictions” of fake drug makers.

Orhii, who addressed journalists in Lagos, however, noted that since he became the DG, the agency had secured seven “major convictions.” The agency came into operation in 1993.

Among the convictions, he said, was the recent imprisonment of two producers of My Pikin Teething Powder. The convicts bagged seven years each.

The Federal High Court, Lagos also ordered the forfeiture of assets belonging to the company, which produced the teething powder to the Federal Government.

According to Orhii, the judgment is a boost to his agency’s war against drug counterfeiting in the country.

He said, “On the day we secured the convictions of the producers of My Pikin, the owner of a bakery, who was charged with assaulting our officials, in Osogbo was convicted. It was a harvest of convictions that day.

“Since I came to NAFDAC in 2009, the agency has secured seven major convictions of drug fakers. Prior to 2009, there was no major conviction. We have recorded several convictions and there are many cases that are on their way to court.”

Orhii said a proposal was in the making to ensure that a portion of assets forfeited by convicted drug fakers “is being used for compensating victims of the fake drugs”.

He added that the agency was developing new strategies to clamp down on fake drug makers, who, according tohim, now import and manufacture the drugs to deceive unsuspecting members ofthe public.

He said, “There is now a shift in the strategies of the drug fakers. They now import packaging materials but manufacture the products locally.”

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